Process and machine for the automatic production of closed,letter-like objects formed by means of roll-folding



May 12, 1970 y B. PAHLITZSCH 3,511,013

PROCESS AND MACHINE. FOR THE AUTOMATIC PRODUCTION OF CLOSED, LETTER-LIKEOBJECTS FORMED BY MEANS OF ROLL-FOLDING Filed June 15. 1966 2Sheets-Sheet l Bruno Pahlifzsch Inventor.

May 12, 1970 p rrzsc 3,511,013

PROCESS AND MACHINE FOR THE AUTOMATIC PRODUCTION OF CLOSED, LETTER-LIKEOBJECTS FORMED BY MEANS OF ROLL-FOLDING Filed June 13, 1966 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.2

Inventor: Bruno Pah/H'zsch United States Patent Int. Cl. B65b 61/02 U.S.Cl. 53-14 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method of and apparatusfor the production of closed objects contained in flat envelopes,comprising the steps of withdrawing a succession of individual sheetsfrom the bottom of a stack of precut, preprinted sheets, perforatingeach sheet to form a pair of lines thereon and applying an adhesive tolateral edges of the sheet parallel to the direction of movementthereof, folding the sheet transversally of the direction of movement tobring one portion of the sheet to overlie another portion thereof andjoin the lateral edges of the overlying portions, and thereafterstacking the sheets by diverting them transversely to the originaldirection of movement. Objects such as medical samples can be insertedin the envelope prior to the total sealing and stacking thereof. Theadhesive may be water soluble and manifest evidence of color change uponcontact with water to indicate any tampering with the sealed unit.

The invention relates to a process for the automatic production ofclosed, letter-like objects formed by means of roll-folding and to amachine for carrying out the process.

Letter-like objects formed by means of roll-folding find useparticularly as lottery letters or also as packings for example forphysicians samples or articles of the sweetmeat industry. In theprevious production of lottery tickets and/ or lottery letters for realvalue lotteries, as they are used by vendors publicly, for example inplaces of amusement, the lottery tickets were either folded, sealed,milled and perforated in several operations or wound into rolls byanother process and closed with a ring or a sealing stamp. In theseknown processes the possibility always exists that the personnel engagedin the production of the lottery tickets and/ or lottery letters can seeinto the individual tickets because during the production of lotteryletters many separate operations are necessary which make practicallyimpossible any check on trustworthy production. The same applies to theproduction of lottery tickets in roll form.

It is an object of the invention to provide a process for the productionof such objects usable as lottery letters formed by roll-folding inwhich the necessary security of production is ensured and the seeinginside the ticket by the personnel is excluded.

A further field of use of the process based on the invention is given inthe production of packings formed by means of roll-folding which servethe purpose of packing small objects, for example physicians samples,satisfactorily and hygienically.

The process of the invention is characterized by the fact that thelaminar cut sheets to be folded, provided with any desired printing, aredrawn downwards from a stack and, in one and the same, preferablyhorizontal, conveyor path are led first over a perforating device forthe formation of tear-off lines, then over a gumming device applyingadhesive to the lateral edges of the cut sheet lying parallel to thedirection of travel, thereupon over a folding device bringing about thenecessary folds and a subsequent 3,511,013 Patented May 12, 1970counting device with a right-angle alteration of the direction of travelto a depositing device and there stacked in a closed condition.

A further feature of the invention consists in the fact that in theproduction of lottery letters all the foldings required in order toclose the letter are carried out in the folding device and theready-folded and closed lottery letter, before reaching the countingdevice, is led over a milling device carrying out the necessary sealingof the gummed lateral edges, preferably carrying out herringbonemilling, and if necessary a subsequent embossing device. Essential tothe invention is that a water-insoluble adhesive is used which becomescolored on contact with water.

The process according to the invention ensures by means of its fullyautomatic run-off, a rapid and secure production of lottery letterswithout allowing the personnel to see inside the cut sheets and possiblyto ascertain winning numbers. In the process according to the inventionthe prepared cut sheets, consisting of blanks and prizes, are placed inthe machine in a stack whereby the Withdrawal of the cut sheets takesplace from the underside of the stack, by which means it is ensured forcertain that the personnel cannot determine which ticket is drawndirectly into the machine. Moreover the machine can operate continuouslysince the stack can be replenished from above without bringing themachine to a stop. In the succeeding process step the tickets areperforated on both sides for the purpose of facilitating opening by thepurchaser. The edge seams of the tickets are then gummed and in the nextprocess step the tickets are folded. The folding takes place in the formof a multiple Winding in order to make through-viewing or transparencyimpossible. For this purpose, for increasing security, a correspondingblack dazzle can be printed on the cut sheet by the ticket printer atthe position opposite to the point on the folded letter on which thewinning number stands. After folding has taken place, during whichsimultaneous- 1y sticking of the gum occurs, the tickets are led overpressure rollers and milling wheels by which a sealing of the gummedrims of the lottery letters is effected in order to prevent unauthorizedopening of the ticket. In so doing it is particularly advantageous tomake use of a so-called herringbone indentation which excludes thepossibility of a subsequent opening of the edge by mechanical means, forexample by a needle. For increasing security, in the preparation oflottery letters, a special adhesive or glue is used which iswater-insoluble, so that opening by means of steam is impossible. Inaddition, on contact of the glued edges with moisture, a coloration ofthe Water-insoluble glue takes place which brings to notice anunauthorized attempt at opening. For increasing security againstunauthorized opening the tickets can be provided with an additionalembossing when this embossing can also be used advantageously foradditional publicity. By means of the counter device and the depositingdevice, automatic stacking of the prepared tickets takes place in which,by means of the counter device, every hundredth ticket, for example, canbe pushed out in order to facilitate the packing of the prepared lotterytickets.

In the use of the process according to the invention for the productionof packings the invention is further characterized by the fact that forthe production of letter-like packings, a partial folding of the cutsheets takes place in the folding device with the formation of an openflap closure; that the objects to be packed are inserted into thepockets formed by the folded parts and the open fiap closures of the cutsheets by means of an insertion device lying in the conveyor routebehind the folding device; and that the flaps are closed at the point ofthe right-angled alteration of the conveyor route in the route of theblade-folding. As distinguished from the production of lottery lettersthere takes place here in the folding device no complete folding butonly a partial folding in such way that a pocket is formed into whichthe object to be packed is inserted automatically before the finalclosing of the packing takes place at the right-angled diversion of theconveyor route. In the production of such packings the security measuresagainst unauthorized opening necessary with lottery letters are notrequired so that milling and embossing do not need to be taken in hand.The process according to the invention is particularly advantageous forthe packing of physicians samples since care is required that thepacking is securely closed and that it takes place in a perfectlyhygienic way. A further advantage in this packing consists in the factthat it offers sufficient room for publicity purposes in order toidentify the included sample or to provide any other desired data. Sincethe automatic production of the packings takes place from cut sheets thewhole double surface of the cut sheet can be used for the introductionof such representation. A prerequisite for the use of the processaccording to the invention for packing is of course that the objects tobe packed have a flat shape and small dimensions and that the objectsare equal to one another whereby unimpeded automatic insertion into thefolded pockets can take place. For example, articles of the sweetmeatindustry, for example chewing gums, can also be packed by the processaccording to the invention whereby the letterlike packing can beprovided with any desired inscription or representation stimulating thepublic to purchase. To this extent the packet in the form of a lotteryletter is particularly attractive in that with it a certain surpriseeffect can be achieved on opening with regard to the representationdisclosed.

The machine suitable for the performance of the process according to theinvention is characterized in that it possesses, in successivearrangement and in com- Ibination, a stacking device fitted with anunderneath suction device, a perforating device, a gumming device, afolding device settable to a varying number of winding turns, showingseveralpreferably sixpocket folds, a disconnectable milling device, alikewise disconnectable embossing device, a counting device and adepositing and stacking device in itself known, in which the individualdevices are connected together by means of a roller conveyor track, initself known, showing behind the counter device a right-angle diversion.

If the machine is to be used for the production of packings anadditional feature according to the invention consists in the fact thatin the conveyor route of the machine, before the diversion point of theroller path, an insertion device is arranged which consists of avertical magazine containing the objects to be packed in successionalarrangement, Which on its underside shows a slide movable in theconveying direction, closing the magazine, and of a striker in theconveying direction lying behind the magazine bringable into engagementwith the roller track by pivoting, and that, by the use of conventionalmeans, the slide and the striker can be controlled in such a way that onengagement of the striker in the roller track the slide opens themagazine contrary to the direction of the conveyor with the release ofan object and closes again the conveying direction with the insertion ofthe object into the packing. In this connection it is essential that atthe diversion point of the roller track is arranged a striker workingtogether with a folding blade movable in a vertical plane for closingthe filled packing. In addition it is also of importance that theinsertion device is arranged before the diversion point of the conveyorpath.

A further essential feature of the machine according to the inventionresides in the fact that it includes two construction units whereby thefirst construction unit, which contains the devices necessary for thehandling of the cut sheets, includes the counting device; to the latteris attachable a second constructional unit, a depositing device forreception of the lottery letters or a depositing device having aninsertion device for reception of the packings.

The machine according to the invention can be used both for theproduction of lottery letters and also for the production of packings,whereby the main part of the machine can be used for both productionprocesses. In the production of lottery letters a depositing devicefitted with a right-angled deviation of the roller track is to be usedwhich must simply be exchanged for another depositing device for theproduction of packings, which possesses the necessary insertion deviceand the folding blade for closing the packing. In the latter instancethe milling device and the embossing device are disconnected and thefolding device by means of the corresponding closing of one or morefolding pockets is so adjusted that after leaving the folding device apocket with an open flap is formed.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings which show an embodiment of the invention but in no restrictivesense.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of the machine according to theinvention for the production of lottery tickets and FIG. 2 arepresentation of the machine according to the invention for theproduction of packings. The machine according to the invention consistsof two separable constructional units namely a constnuctional unit 1according to FIGS. 1 and 2 which shows the main part of the machine andan extension 2 according to FIG. 1 or another extension 16 according toFIG. 2. Part 1 of the machine according to FIGS. 1 and 2 shows a drive3, a stacking device 6 with a suction device 7 and a conveyor roller 5to which is attached the roller track 4. In the roller track areconnected in serial arrangement, a perforating device 8, a gummingarrangement 9, a folding device 10, a disconnectable milling device 11,likewise disconnectable embossing device 12 and a counting device 13.The roller track runs through as far as the end of constructionalunit 1. All devices 3 to 13 are in themselves known, so that they areshown only in schematic representation. The folding device 10 possessessix folding pockets, which are optionally closable and therebydisconnectable. The extension 2 of the machine according to the FIG. 1is intended for the production of lottery letters and contains acontinuation of the conveying track 4 which is provided with a diversiondirected vertically downwards. The roller track ends in a depositingdevice 15 in which the lottery letters closed in the folding device 10are stocked. The diversion device 14 and the depositing device 15 are,as they are already known, shown schematically.

For the production of packings the main part 1 is converted bydisconnecting the milling device 11 and the embossing device 12 and byattaching the extension 16. This extension 16 likewise contains anextension of the roller track 4. At the beginning of the extension 16 isa vertical magazine 17 arranged for the reception of the objects to bepacked. Before the magazine 17 a slide 18 is arranged which keeps themagazine 17 closed. The pocket formed in the folding device 10 runsunder the magazine whereby it is applied to a striker 21 which isrotatable about a pivot 22. The distance of the rotatable striker 21 tothe back wall of the magazine 17 is calculated in such a way that when apocket runs onto the striker 21 the open fold is below the opening ofthe magazine 17. When the striker 21 engages in the roller path 4 aslide 18 arranged in front of the magazine is withdrawn against thedirection of conveying by means of a lever 19 rotatable about a pivot20; by this means an object to be packed falls on the upper side of theopen flap and is inserted into the pocket by means of a movement of theslide 18 taking place in the direction of conveyance. The lever 21 thenturns out of the conveyor track 4 so that it continues to convey thefilled packings. By the next inturning of the lever 21 in the conveyingtrack 4 the insertion of the next object to be packed takes place by thesame movement of the slide 18. The open pockets filled in this way areconveyed by the roller track 4 to the diversion point 23. Above thediversion point is a folding blade 25 which is moved back and forthrhythmically by means of a lever 26 rotatable about a pivot 27. Behindthe diversion point 23 is an adjustable striker 24 onto which the filledpockets run. When the pocket comes into contact with the striker 24 thefolding blade 25 is moved downwards and conveys, while folding the openflap, the folded pocket into the vertical deflection of the conveyortrack 4 whereby automatic sticking down of the pocket takes place. Thestuck down pocket is then stacked in the depositing device.

I claim:

1. A method of serially producing closed letter-like articles,comprising the steps of withdrawing a succession of precut, preprintedsheets from the base of a stack thereof and displacing said sheetscontinuously and successively along a generally horizontal transportpath;

perforating said sheets to form a pair of lines thereon accommodatingsubsequent opening of said articles but maintaining the closed conditionthereof in the absence of intentional separation of the articles alongsaid lines;

applying adhesive to lateral edges of said sheets in the direction ofmovement thereof;

folding each sheet along said path to juxtapose two portions of saidsheet and adhere the corresponding lateral edges of said portionstogether; and successively diverting the folded sheets in 'a directiontransverse to the direction of movement of the sheets and in a generallyvertical direction to stack the folded sheets in a substantially uprightarray.

2. A method of serially producing letter-like articles, comprising thesteps of withdrawing a succession of precut, preprinted sheets from thebase of a stack thereof and displacing said sheets continuously andsuccessively along a generally horizontal transport path;

perforating said sheets to form a pair of lines thereon;

applying adhesive to lateral edges of said sheets in the direction ofmovement thereof;

folding each sheet along said path to juxtapose two portions of saidsheet and adhere the corresponding lateral edges of said portionstogether;

successively diverting the folded sheets in a direction transverse tothe direction of movement of the sheets and in a generally verticaldirection to stack the folded sheets in a substantially upright array;and nipping the adhesive-carrying lateral edges of each sheet afterfolding same and prior to the stacking thereof.

3. The method defined in claim 2, further comprising the step ofcounting the folded sheets subsequent to the folding thereof and priorto the stacking of said sheets in upright array.

4. The method defined in claim 2 wherein said adhesive iswater-insoluble and manifests color change in contact with water.

5. The method defined in claim 3 further comprising the step ofinserting an object into a pocket formed between the portions of eachfolded sheet prior to the counting and stacking thereof.

6. An apparatus for the automatic production of closed articles,comprising feed means for successively drawing precut, preprinted sheetsfrom the bottom of a stack thereof;

means establishing a generally horizontal path for the sheets withdrawnfrom said stack and for continuously advancing said sheets along saidpath;

preforating means along said path for perforating each sheet removedfrom said stack to form a pair of lines thereon;

gumming means engaging the lateral edges of each sheet along said pathin the direction of displacement thereof to apply adhesive to saidlateral edges;

folding means having a plurality of adjustable folding pocketssuccessively receiving said sheets for buckling same to bring portionsof said sheets into juxtaposed relationship and bond lateral edges ofsaid portions together with said adhesive;

stacking means offset from said path for retaining folded sheets in agenerally upright array; and

deflecting means between said stacking means and said folding means fordirecting the folded sheets transversely to said path toward saidstacking means.

7. An apparatus as defined in claim 6, further comprising disconnectablemilling means between said folding means and said stacking means forembossing a pattern on the folded sheets.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 6, further comprising insertionmeans above said path between said folding means and said stackingmeans, said insertion means comprising a magazine containing asuccession of articles to be inserted into said sheets,

a slide movable in the direction of displacement thereof and a capableof closing an end of said magazine, and

a striker rotatably mounted behind said magazine in the direction ofdisplacement of said sheets and operable simultaneously with said slidefor opening the magazine to release an object therefrom and subsequentlyto close the magazine while moving the object released therefrom intothe respective folded sheet.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,884,468 10/1932 Winkler et al.93-61 2,088,068 7/1937 Overbaugh 22983 THERON E. CONDON, PrimaryExaminer E. F. DESMOND, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 53-29, 133

